Students and teachers at KIPP charter school in Massachusetts explain how their school aims to set them up for success in college.

In 2013, 15,000 children sat on Boston charter school wait lists for just 1,700 available seats. The Boston Teachers Union recently took a swipe at charter school performance in the city, claiming district high schools perform better than charter high schools. But their numbers included not just public schools that must accept all students, including charters, but also the city's elite exam schools that only accept high-scoring applicants.

"Boston's charter schools are doing more to close achievement gaps for low-income and minority students than any other group of public schools in the country, according to a 2013 study by Stanford's Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO)," the Pioneer Institute pointed out in response. "A typical charter student enjoys more than two years of learning in each academic year, in math and reading."